Archives for the ‘Miscellany’ Category

Over Memorial Day Weekend, Amanda and I decided to take a mini-vacation in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia. In spite of an early hurdle regarding our hotel reservation (whoops!), and Amanda having to soldier through a nasty head cold, we had a totally awesome time. Of course we scouted out a handful of restaurants: Chifa, 10 Arts, Osteria, Jim’s Steaks, Rouge, and Sabrina’s, and loved them all — great food scene! We spent most of our time walking around, checking out the various neighborhoods, and absorbing the ubiquitous American history. With the exception of all the Phillies fans hanging around, it’s a really cool city

We left ourselves plenty of reasons to go back, but until then we have our pictures…

So last weekend was Valentines Day, and let’s just say it didn’t go so well.

As you may have read, Amanda recently had surgery on her hip to repair a nasty labral tear that had been bothering her for a while. As if two-weeks of being trapped in our apartment to deal with post-op pain wasn’t bad enough, on Sunday she woke up with a nasty cough. After a delightful Valentines Day brunch at Good (best egg sandwich in NYC–for reals!) it was clear that she needed medical attention. I mean, who wouldn’t want to spend Valentines Day at the 24-hour clinic?

Thankfully, not a lot of people get sick on Valentines Day. There was a couple scrapbooking in the waiting room which was pretty funny–another romantic V-Day adventure. The wait was only about an hour before the doctor could see Amanda. She had bronchitis. baaawww…

Fast forward to dinner, the main event. In light of Amanda’s condition, we decided just to cook together and have a romantic night in. We choose a family recipe, Bulgarian Pork Meatballs and Tzatziki with an Olive Oil & Lemon Potoato Salad. We get to work and things are starting to smell good. Bronchitis, leg pain, the doctor–all in the past. It’s Valentines Day and we’re in love. What could go wrong? This could:

While slicing cucumbers with a mandolin, I slipped and sent the tip of my finger past the blade. Blood. Everywhere. It was AWESOME. Always the photojournalist, I tried to get Amanda to snap some pictures but as it turned out she was more concerned with my well being than taking a sweet picture. Go figure! Here’s fuzzy one:

I set up in the bathroom with my hand over the sink while Amanda limped around the apartment, finished cooking all by herself, and Googled “tip of finger sliced off what to do.” Eventually we wrapped it in cotton gauze and sat down for dinner and a movie. The food was delicious and the movie was okay. Regardless, it was a relaxing change of pace from the hectic evening.

Right before bed I wanted to change the bandage, but I didn’t anticipate that the wound would have scabbed through the cotton gauze. Not only was it excruciatingly painful to take off the bandage, but it started the bleeding all over again. It was another couple of hours before it calmed down enough for us to sleep.

Achy, exhausted, coughing, and bloody, we finally were able to put this disastrous Valentines Day behind us. A little bit worse for the wear, but no less in love.

I’m sorry to have been absent from blogging and sharing news about our wedding. Luke’s been holding down the fort on our little blog while I’ve been recovering from a hip surgery. I”m finally feeling back to myself after arthroscopic surgery for a labral tear last Monday. Thanks to everyone who sent well wishes or spent some time with me recovering!

We love food. But I’ll admit that most of the time our love for food manifests into eating out or ordering in. NYC provides endless food options that we rarely take the time to cook for ourselves. However, when we do, it’s great. It’s a wonderful feeling to eat a meal you made yourself and even better to do it with the one you love.

Last night Luke and I made an amazing chili. It started from a recipe online and then we added our own improvised touches. It turned out so well and amazingly delicious that I decided to share our special recipe!

Ingredients

1 lb ground chuck

1 lb ground turkey

1 can cherry tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

1 can tomato juice

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can borlotti beans, drained and rinsed

1 can sweet corn, drained and rinsed

1 large chopped onion

1 chopped green bell pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon white sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/4 cup chili powder

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (from a can) chopped

Directions

Place ground chuck and turkey in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, and crumble.